The latest innovation to cost effectively purify water has come in the form of a book and is proving successful in its first trials.
Termed as a "drinkable book" the device is the brain child of Dr. Teri Dankovich, who is a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, according to the BBC.
Dr. Dankovich has been testing and developing the technology behind the concept for several years while working at both the University of Virginia in the United States and McGill University in Canada.
The book comes together with paper that is treated as well as printed with information on why water should be filtered and how the filtration should be done using the book.
According to the British Broadcasting channel each of the pages which make up the book are coated with nano particles of copper and silver and capable of killing bacteria which comes into contact with the particles.
With more than 600 million people around the globe unable to access clean drinking water, Dr Dankovich has said the project is geared towards those in developing countries.
The researcher explained that users need only tear a page off the book and place it in a simple filter holder and pour in water from whatever available source be it rivers, streams and wells to have the water purified in a few minutes.
The "drinkable books" have been put to the test at 25 areas in Ghana, Bangladesh and South Africa and the pages have been effective in removing 99% of bacteria.
One page according to the current research is capable of cleaning 100 litres of water, while it is estimated that one book is capable of filtering an individual's drinking water requirements for four years.
While Dr. Dankovich admits that more studies need to be conducted in communities, according to Quartz Africa her team of colleagues who make the books by hand at the moment are looking to step up production and have them available to more local communities.